Frayed Knot

I saw it a while back so the memory is a hazy shade this winter, but I remember not liking it all that much. I think my main beef was also me not quite buying the story - meaning either it wasn't a very good novel or some things got lost in translation. I mean, it wasn't terrible but ultimately not all that satisfying IIRC.

"Computer plate umpires could be called up to the major leagues at some point during the next five seasons. Umpires agreed to cooperate with Major League Baseball in the development and testing of an automated ball-strike system as part of a five-year labor contract announced Saturday, two people familiar with the deal told https://apnews.com/d8760e52b8ced5b8436c60891ea6e877The Associated Press." Other bits of tid from the AP "exclusive": - MLB has discussed installing the system at the Class A Florida State League for 2020. If that test goes well, the computer umps could be used at Triple-A in 2021 as bugs are dealt with prior to a big league callup. - It is not clear whether the Major League Baseball Players Association would need to approve computerized ball and strikes. “We are aware the umpires and MLB are in negotiations over a new CBA,” said players' union head Tony Clark, a former All-Star first baseman. “MLB will have their negotiation with them, and they will need to discuss with us.” - Several AFL prospects [where the system has been used] praised 'TrackMan' for calls on the inside and outside corners but said it struggled with breaking balls low or high around the strike zone.

I have a vague memory of the existence of someone named Chris Mazza. Other than that I'm stumped.

=Ceetar post_id=28742 time=1576899964 user_id=102] I still haven't seen any convincing argument for why he wouldn't have recovered from his surgery.

I think plenty of it has to do with Cespedes' earning potential going forward, which is astronomically higher than Ellsbury. I'd be willing to bet it has nothing to do with that. Sure, because it's not like the Players Association doesn't wait until you 'make it' and prove you're going to make money to give a shit about you? Why would it be different on the other side? This is absurd. Like the association's go-to move is to tell players to cast aside 20 million previously negotiated bucks since they'll have the chance to maybe get it back later. Look, both Cespedes & Ellsbury are essentially in the same boat: both have "made it" - as in millions of dollars for their careers, but they're also 34 & 36 y/o, coming off multiple seasons of missed time, and aren't guaranteed a fucking dime past this season. The logical conclusion is that the facts and circumstances in one case aren't the same as in the other. - The union worked w/YC during his arbitration process with the Mets presumably to get him some of his 2019 money (about 1/3?) plus the chance to make more of it back via incentive clauses in 2020 - In Ellsbury's case there is no question about an injury, only in the Yanx trying to make the entire final year of his contract disappear over "unauthorized treatment" which the other party denies even happened. Also probably doesn't help that the MFY seemingly try to pull this act more than anyone else, particularly when one of their high-priced signings goes south -- ARod & Giambi, plus various foreign players about whom the team shocked, SHOCKED, to discover that there might be an age discrepancy only after said player doesn't turn out to be what their genius system projected.

Julio Teheran, six years running as the Atlanta Opening Day starter, is now an Angel (one year deal). Mikael Franco, once Phiily's best prospect but only occasionally a good player, is headed to KCR Justin Smoak, part of the '1st baseman's draft of 2008* heads to the Brewers on a one year deal. Previously toiled for KC, SEA, TOR * 7 of the first 23 picks were 1st sackers, something I'm sure never happened before or since 3rd overall = Eric Hosmer (KC) 7th - Yonder Alonso (Reds) 11th - Smoak (TEX) 13th - Brett Wallace (StL) 17th David Cooper (TOR) 18th - Ike Davis (NYM) 23rd - Allen Dykstra (SDP)

So while the Player's Assoc was in on the Mets/Cespedes negotiations, they're filing a suit against the Yanx who are trying to get out of paying Jacoby Ellsbury in the final year of his deal - which certainly makes it seem like the union is saying that there was more evidence of player liability in the Yoenis case than there is with Ellsbury. The Yanx are claiming that Ellsbury sought "unauthorized treatment" sometime over the last year or so and therefore they want to convert the final year of his deal into a 'non-guaranteed' state. iow: they want to pay him NONE of it but they're going to have a fight on their hands before they can do so.

Yes roles should be determined by performance. But when dealing with FAs both the player and the team have to have some kind of idea of that role is going to be before a deal is struck. Not that you'd write that role into the contract or make goofy promises but that the two sides would need to be on the same page as to the general level of reliever he's likely to be before coming to an agreement. -- If he's the alternate Lugo then you're saying he's around the 3rd best guy in the bullpen. Is that something he's going to accept or does a guy who has had stretches of closing think he can do better? -- Are the Mets willing to pay him as a Top-three kind of guy? Are they ready to declare that someone who pitched just 2/3 of an inning in 2019 and had stretches prior to that where he'd face 20 batters over a several game span and wind up walking 10 of them while racking up months where his OBA-against was pushing .400, deserves to be slotted in ahead of Familia and Justin Wilson? Maybe. But if that's going to be the case then I'm suggesting that somebody, or maybe several somebodies, needs to be demoted and/or dealt to make that happen because high-priced relievers resigned to mopping up in blowouts is hardly an ideal way to structure a bullpen and I'm not so sure why he's the better candidate to bounce back for 2020 and beyond than what they've got now.

Frayed Knot wrote: That said, I think BVW probably means what he says about no more FA relievers. Between Diaz, Familia, Wilson, Lugo, and Gsellman, you really have no place to slot another "main" pen arm unless you're going to clear one of more of the incumbents out and if they were to do that they'd be selling low on several of them (most notably Dia-milia) for a guy you hope you wouldn't be doing to same thing with at this point next year. I'm not sure I understand your math. Even with those 5, there are still two more slots, even with a 12 man pen. You figure one spot has to go to a second lefty, but why is there no room for Betances? Sure you need more than five guys, but is Bettances going to sign up to be the sixth/seventh man out of the pen? Or, additionally, are the Mets going to pay whatever it takes to get him only to slot him behind the above-mentioned guys? That's why I used the term "main" bullpen arm because there are always guys shuffling in and out of those 12th to 13th guy on the staff positions. But I can't see a guy, one with a lengthy resume as an 8th/9th inning arm and still supposedly in his prime, filling one of those slots unless no one trusts that his 2019 physical issues are behind him. And if that's the case then why would we want him? Somebody the other day -- Sherman/NY Post? -- was advocating for him but my problem with his logic is that he seemed to assume that Bettances finding his previous form was only a matter of when rather than if while at the same time treating Diaz & Familia as if last year labels them as proven failures never to be trusted again. iow, he was advocating for the Mets to sign Bettances with the idea of making him their #1 guy. I don't see it.

Yeah, he lost his shit in the second half of 2017 and then lost essentially the entire 2019 season to injuries (I forget what specifically was the problem) which is too bad because the Yanx not only refused to pay him what he was worth to them but they insulted him in the process. He always walked a lot but at his worst his BB/9 was nearing 7/per even as his H/9 and K/9 numbers remained ridiculously low and high. That said, I think BVW probably means what he says about no more FA relievers. Between Diaz, Familia, Wilson, Lugo, and Gsellman, you really have no place to slot another "main" pen arm unless you're going to clear one of more of the incumbents out and if they were to do that they'd be selling low on several of them (most notably Dia-milia) for a guy you hope you wouldn't be doing to same thing with at this point next year.

Well, whether it's going to be Donaldson or someone else, Washington is going to have to do something with their infield because right now it consists of SS Trea Turner and ... no one. Rendon is obviously gone from 3rd. 2nd base last season was shared by a trio of 30-somethings -- Brian Dozier, Howie Kendrick, Asdrubal Cabrera -- all of whom are FAs. Kendrick had what was By Far the best offensive season of his career in 2019 [142 OPS+, best prior was 126 back in 2011 for LAA] but Rizzo is likely smart enough to know not to count on that again, plus he'll turn 36 next season and is a significant defensive liability these days. They may try to keep him, but I can't see it as an everyday 2B. And at 1st base the oft-injured (one full-ish season since 2013) Ryan Zimmerman (36) has finally had his contract run out and the Nats also chose the buy-out on Matt Adams' contract when he failed to repeat his short-term success of 2018 [118 OPS+ plummeted to 83] so he too is a FA At one point they had hopes for Wilmer Difo, who plays everywhere (man), but he's no longer young (28 by O.D.) nor improving, nor shown himself to be particularly good at this baseball thing [OPS+ = 73 over 1K ML ABs] And remember that this is a club coming off -- a WS championship, yes -- but also a good-tho-hardly-great 93-win season who finished with a three week span that finally was the exact opposite of their previous October mojo. And we haven't even brought up the bullpen. iow, they got work to do. The other thing that strikes me in the wake of the Rendon signing is: him and Trout likely back-to-back in the same lineup ... Holy Shit!!

no, fuck that. This is Cespedes money and he shouldn't have to give it up for a fucking accident. If it was an accident caused by him doing something that his contract specifically prohibited his from doing then, yeah, he might have to give up some or all of it. This is literally "you got cancer so we're canceling your insurance" territory. It's not only "literally" not that, it isn't remotely close to that. It's much closer to: We will pay you X amount to play baseball for this time period and will continue to do so even if you get hurt unless you get hurt while hang gliding ... and then you get hurt going hang gliding!! Hell, if they do HAVE medical evidence that it was more than just what he said, it was probably voluntarily given to them by Cespedes under the guise of them helping him heal and rehab. Maybe, maybe not. Aaron Boone voluntarily offered that he blew out his knee (leading to the complete canceling of his contract and later the ARod trade to NYY) while playing pickup basketball, an activity almost universally prohibited in sports contracts including for basketball players. Others have not been so forthcoming. I remember Jeff Kent telling the Astros his injury occurred after he slipped while washing his truck. Turned out that the truth was slightly different: he crashed while doing wheelies on his motorcycle. ... it's a slippery slope to teams voiding your contract for simply getting hurt in any way off the field. That implies that a team can simply decide to do so unilaterally and that getting hurt "in any way" can be used as justification. But any attempt to do so would involve the CBA, the MLBPA, insurers, agents, lawyers, grievance processes, arbitration, and/or courts of law. This sounds like it may have been a negotiated settlement between the two parties in lieu of taking it to any of that apparatus. Whlie we're at it, his money shouldn't count against the CBT, there shouldn't be a CBT, and the Mets shouldn't care about the CBT. I have no idea what the CBT is although I've preemptively eliminated the Connecticut Bank and Trust.

I feel this movie/driving topic deserves its own thread (as does Kurosawa if that project ever actually gets off the ground). The racing movie sub-topic now also includes the more recent: - RUSH (2013): two polar opposite 'Formula One' drivers vying for the same prize start off as antagonists wind up with at least grudging respect for each other. Ron Howard directs, Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl in the leads. - FORD vs FERRARI (2019): maverick driver-turned-designer (Matt Damon) hires maverick driver (Christian Bale) as they butt heads with corporate culture after Ford decides to spruce up their image by taking on Ferrari in European road racing.

If nothing else, these winter meetings are providing good fodder for subject title headings.

Let's hope so. Because the Wheeler-Vargas rotation finished 50-55. Frayed Knot wrote: I was thinking more of for one year since that's all we're guaranteed of with Stroman & Wacha Wheeler/Vargas wound up 17-13 with an ERA right about 4.00 in 2019. Their combined WHIP ~ 1.26; BB/9 ~ 2.8; K/9 between 8 & 9; and HR/9 a bit over 1.0

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Wasn't it Wheeler/Stroman, though, when the Mets were world-beaters for a couple months? Not sure about 'World-beaters', but certainly better during that time even though it was the result of many factors.

=Centerfield post_id=28181 time=1576101006 user_id=65]Let's hope so. Because the Wheeler-Vargas rotation finished 50-55.

So the question to be answered is whether Stroman/Wacha > Wheeler/Vargas???? Stay tuned to this station to find out.

I don't hear of too many folks disliking Nimmo or Conforto, certainly not to the degree of the others on that list. The strikeouts are an issue for Nimmo which I'm sure frustrates some fans particularly when he takes borderline pitches for called strikes while looking like he's treating the walk as the goal rather than a fallback option. Fans also tend to get pissed off over injuries, but fans are stupid that way. Now ideally he's not your CF. The other problem is that he's better off not being in RF either but, unless Cepedes can both be healthy AND be cured of his RF-phobia, there's no other place for him right now, or for Dom for that matter. That said, he's not horrid in CF and is still young enough and energetic enough to fake it for another season or two. So while I'd prefer a real CF on the 2020 team, I don't consider it an absolute necessity that he be replaced NOW!!!! On the other hand, you've got to give up talent to get talent and the OF is the likeliest place to at least think about dealing and I'd look into dealing him before I would Conforto.

=bmfc1 post_id=28115 time=1576071510 user_id=73] He can opt-out after 5. Not my $ and insane or not, he's great.

Common in other sports, this type of after the season All-Star type of team is a first this year for MLB. It was comprised of 50/50 fan vote and "expert" vote. First Team C: J.T. Realmuto, Phillies 1B: Pete Alonso, Mets 2B: DJ LeMahieu, Yankees 3B: Anthony Rendon, Nationals SS: Xander Bogaerts, Red Sox OF: Mike Trout, Angels OF: Cody Bellinger, Dodgers OF: Christian Yelich, Brewers DH: Nelson Cruz, Twins SP: Gerrit Cole, Astros SP: Justin Verlander, Astros SP: Jacob deGrom, Mets SP: Max Scherzer, Nationals SP: Stephen Strasburg, Nationals RP: Kirby Yates, Padres RP: Josh Hader, Brewers Second Team C: Yasmani Grandal, Brewers 1B: Freddie Freeman, Braves 2B: Jose Altuve, Astros 3B: Alex Bregman, Astros SS: Marcus Semien, A's OF: Ronald Acuna Jr., Braves OF: Juan Soto, Nationals OF: Mookie Betts, Red Sox DH: Yordan Alvarez, Astros SP: Zack Greinke, D-backs/Astros SP: Hyun-Jin Ryu, Dodgers SP: Jack Flaherty, Cardinals SP: Charlie Morton, Rays SP: Mike Soroka, Braves RP: Aroldis Chapman, Yankees RP: Liam Hendriks, A's No distinction was made to separate the leagues. As a result, and perhaps indicative of the dominance the NL had over the AL this season (.553 winning pct in IL games) 10 of the 16 first team selection were NL'ers (really more like 10 of 15 since the NL doesn't have a chance at the DH slot) while 7-1/2 of the 15/16 second team squad played NL ball (Zack Greinke split his season between leagues). Five and a half (Greinke again) Astros were the most of any team - two first team, 3.5 second team. Nationals = 4 (3/1) Brewers = 3 (2/1) Braves = 3 (0/3) Mets = 2 (both 1st) Yanx = 2 (1/1) Red Sox = 2 (1/1) A's = 2 (0/2) Dodgers = 2 (1/1) Twins = 1 (1st) Angels = 1 (1st) Padres = 1 (1st) Cardinals = 1 (0/1) Rays = 1 (0/2) Philly = 1 (1/0) DBacks = 1/2 (2nd) Also fun to note that neither of the big ticket FAs players from last year -- Harper or Machado -- made either team.

Lefty Specialist wrote: Seems like they're content to coast through these meetings hoping to not be noticed. Hey Brodie! You inert piece of useless doggie doo-doo. We notice. Strongly worded message to follow. This is the reaction a half day into the meetings? Really?

Ceetar he was restless he was ready to kill "Heyman" he said, "he's just a Boras shill" You can't go believing rumors on the internet Cole may be headed west but he's not signed yet. Why don't you tell me 'bout the mystery team I wanna know about the mystery team. All these rumors going forth, going back, all are lacking in facts I just can't read 'em anymore cuz they're all a bunch of hacks

The Nats seem to like to defer money (as they did with Scherzer) so they may be paying him at a lower clip and until 2086 instead of actually giving it all out up front, but that still ... averages out to $35 per - for seven seasons - for a guy turning 32 mid-season next year - who has averaged less than 28 starts/season. Good luck with that. On the other hand there was scuttlebutt out of somewhere the other day saying that the team was resigned to signing Strasburg OR Rendon.

Sunday's (12/8) NY Times Xword puzzle, 76-Down: New York Mets epithet (6 LETTERS) A M A Z I N